


The Fluffy Secret

by Eastofthemoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Animals, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 09:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/pseuds/Eastofthemoon
Summary: Keith has a deep, dark secret...he's a big softie when it comes to animals.  When Hunk, Lance and Pidge discover he's been rescuing animals and bringing them on the ship, there's only one thing they can do!  Help him take care of the animals in secret without letting Shiro, Allura or Coran finding out.





	The Fluffy Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome all! This is the other Big Bang fic I wrote and this was part of [Voltron Big Gen Bang](http://voltronbang.tumblr.com/)
> 
> The [ art here](http://voltron-dorkies.tumblr.com/post/163652189058/o-h-got-paired-up-with-the-lovely-eastofthemoon) was done by [Voltron-Dorkies](http://voltron-dorkies.tumblr.com/) and I highly recommend checking out their art there.

Hunk carefully balanced a tray of food as he walked down the hall. Once he arrived at Keith’s door, Hunk made certain to not spill the soup bowl as he knocked twice.

“Keith, it’s me!” he called out. “Can I come in?”

From behind the door, Hunk heard a small yelp as he heard Keith scrambling to the door. “Uh...yeah, just a sec!”

After a few seconds, the door opened. Keith poked his head out as he kept a hand on the collar of his unusually zipped-up jacket. Hunk noticed, but after a moment's thought, decided not to mention it.

“Hey, I brought you some soup for dinner,” Hunk said as he held up the tray. “I know you said your stomach was feeling off, but you should eat something and I figured this would be easier to digest.”

Hunk was glad to see Keith wasn’t looking pale. He had been concerned his friend had taken a turn for the worse when he suddenly bailed early from their trip to the market. Normally, all the paladins would spend a few good hours together exploring whatever local market they could find. This time, though, Keith had been clutching at his stomach claiming he was feeling ill and needed to head back early.

Keith had assured the group it wasn’t serious, but as soon as the trip wrapped up, Hunk went to work throwing some soup together for Keith. It might have been overkill, but on the other hand the guy likely hadn't eaten anything since that morning.

Keith glanced at the soup and offered a small smile. “Oh, uh, thanks, Hunk,” he said. “I’ll eat it in a bit.”

Hunk nodded and then frowned as a thought struck him. “By the way, did you get Coran to take a look at you?”

Keith froze and a guilty expression washed over his face as his fingers grabbed at his collar. “No...but I’m fine, really. It’s no biggie.”

Hunk sighed as he shook his head. “Dude, you should get checked over to make certain it’s not anything serious we could take care of now.”

Shiro had instructed Keith to check in with Coran as soon as he had gotten back to the castle. With all the potential bugs and viruses in the universe the group could catch, no one wanted to take a chance of anyone getting deathly sick if they could avoid it.

 _Typical stubborn Keith,_ Hunk thought. _Why does he always try to handle things by himself?_

“Um…I'll check in with him later,” Keith said as he tried to shut the door, but Hunk stopped it with his foot. 

“No, you need to go now,” Hunk said. He usually tried to be easy going as possible, but when it came to everyone’s health there was no way he could let things slide.

Keith winced like he was struggling to keep his grip. “Hunk, I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.”

“You probably are,” Hunk continued, “but I would feel better if you just let-”

“Mew!” a tiny squeak echoed through the hallway.

Both paladins went quiet as they jumped. “What was that?!” Hunk said as he looked around, carefully balancing the tray before placing it on the floor.

Keith gave a sheepish smile. “What was what?”

Hunk blinked stunned. “Um, that weird noise just now? How could you not hear it?”

“I didn’t hear a thing,” Keith said as he rapidly shook his head.

“Mew!” The squeak sounded again. Hunk glanced up and down the hallway, but again saw nothing.

“Okay, there is no way you didn’t hear it that time…” Hunk trailed off as he noticed Keith’s jacket beginning to wiggle. Hunk’s mouth slowly dropped as he pointed to it with his finger.

“Dude...why is your jacket moving?” he asked.

Keith glanced downward and instantly tried to hold his collar closed. “Oh..uh, well, you see-Arrgh! No! Stay put-”

Against Keith’s will, a small furry blue head with round ears and a pink nose poked out. The creature blinked at Hunk, sniffed the air and then exclaimed a triumphant and tiny “Mew!”

Hunk stared, uncertain what he was seeing. Keith sighed as he unzipped his jacket and held up the small creature in his hands. “You couldn’t stay quiet for like another minute?”

The creature flicked its long tail and poked Keith’s nose with a white paw. “Mew,” it said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Keith,” Hunk said as his brain rebooted. “Explain, please.”

Keith rubbed his eyes before he grabbed Hunk’s arm and pulled him into his room. “Alright, look,” he started once the door shut and patted the creature’s head. “A merchant was selling him.”

“As a pet?” Hunk asked.

Keith shook his head. “No, as a good luck charm.” He pointed to the creature’s paw. “Apparently, this thing is called a bushark, and people cut off its leg to make lucky charms.” 

Hunk cringed. “Ow, that’s rather bad.” Granted it wasn’t that unbelievable. Back on Earth, rabbits' feet were supposed to be lucky, not that Hunk had ever tried such a gross idea. It certainly wouldn't be lucky for the rabbit. Who would get luck out of something like that, anyway?

Keith gave a protective growl as he petted the bushark to no complaints. “The merchant even offered to cut off just the foot for me at half price, and in response I decided to just buy the little guy myself.”

The bushark purred as Keith scratched under its chin.

“And then you decided to sneak it into the castle?” Hunk asked and Keith responded with a nod. “Why didn’t you just tell us that?”

“Because I didn’t think Shiro would let me keep it,” Keith stated, “or Allura and Coran for that matter. So, I was thought it would be easier to keep it secret and hide it.”

“Ah,” Hunk replied as he rubbed his neck. Keith wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t like the Castle of Lions was exactly an animal sanctuary or anything. “Still, Keith, come on it’s just one little animal.”

Hunk reached out his hand to let the bushark sniff it and when it did, Hunk patted the creature’s head. “They probably won’t let you keep it, but I can’t see them making that huge of a deal out of it.”

Keith flinched as if Hunk had just poked him with a sharp stick. 

“Why are you making that face?” Hunk asked with a raised eyebrow.

Keith rubbed his neck and gave a deep sigh. “I...need to show you something,” he muttered as he led the way. “You might even be able to help me.”

Hunk tilted his head. “Um...okay, but I’m a little concerned with the way you’re phrasing this. Is there some kind of secret bushark play zone half built? Did you start putting together a secret garden of appropriate food? Oh man, a secret garden would be a great idea...”

Keith made no response as he tucked the bushark back inside his jacket and gestured for Hunk to follow him out of his room. They walked down a few halls, then made a right and then a left and headed down a set of stairs.

Hunk was about to ask where exactly Keith was taking him until they reached a door.

“This is an old storage room,” Keith explained as he turned the handle. “And when I found it, it was completely empty except for some trunks of old clothes.”

“Alright,” Hunk said as rubbed his neck, “and we’re here because?”

Again, Keith said nothing as he opened the door and led Hunk inside. He was surprised to see the light had already been switched on, but he barely had time to process this as a loud squawk drew his attention to the centre of the room.

There were piles of pillows, boxes and a couple of bowls that Hunk recognized as the ones he’d been searching for a month scattered around the floor. He could hardly bring himself to care about pilfered pottery, however, given the presence of the three animals in the room.

A blue bird with a long feathery tail was preening its wings as it sat on a shelf high above them. There were also a few blankets that had been bundled together, serving as a nest for a pink creature with a long white mane, a long tail and glowing hooves. The creature shifted its head while it slept allowing Hunk to see its long nose, which reminded him vaguely of a Shetland pony.

In the far corner, a larger creature was contentedly chewing on a ball as it flexed its long bushy tail. At first glance it seemed like a white dog with pointed ears, but it had black spots and large paws like a snow leopard. That much could almost be explained away, but Hunk really had no explanation for the creature having a third eye in its forehead.

The dog-like creature dropped the ball as it spotted Keith, promptly barking and rushing over happily to meet them. Keith grinned as he reached out to pat the animal’s head as it panted and leaned into his hand.

“Hey, girl,” Keith said, “how's it going?”

The alien dog barked as it pawed at Keith’s leg.

“We’ll play later,” Keith said as he brought out the bushark from his jacket. “I've got a buddy for you to meet.”

The alien dog flexed its ears as the bushark sniffed back. Hunk was afraid the two creatures were going to attack each other, but the dog alien just licked the bushark in greeting. The bushark squeaked and shook off the drool before the alien dog turned to run back into its corner. The bushark wiggled in Keith’s grasp until the boy complied and placed the creature on the ground.

Keith didn’t look back at Hunk as the bushark ran off to play and sheepishly tucked his hands into his pockets.

Hunk narrowed his eyes as his crossed his arms in front of his chest. “So, exactly how long have you had this miniature zoo?” Hunk asked.

Keith chewed his bottom lip. “About...a month or so...I think?”

“You think?!” Hunk exclaimed.

“Hey, it’s easy to lose track of time in space,” Keith argued. "I swear Altean weeks are all different lengths - well, that or Coran is messing with us for kicks."

Hunk rubbed his eyes. “Okay, better question. Where did you get all of these animals?” He rubbed his neck. “I don't want to ruin your fun, but you know it’s a bad idea to take in wild critters, right?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I do and these aren’t wild, they’re domestic...okay, I think most of them are, I’m honestly not sure about the lorka.”

“The what?”

“The spotted dog with the three eyes,” Keith replied as he pointed to where it and the bushark were engaged in a tug-of-war over the ball.

“Ah....ha,” Hunk said as he refused to take his eyes off of Keith. “Still waiting for that explanation, dude.”

Keith sucked the air between his teeth as he rubbed his neck. “I...kind of bought them all from the markets we’ve been at.” He pointed to the bird that was currently making a crooning sound.

“A merchant was selling her as a pet, and, Hunk, you should have seen the tiny cage he was keeping her in,” Keith said as he held up his hands. “The space mice would barely have been able to move in that prison.”

“So, you bought her to rescue her?” Hunk replied as he glanced to the bird. “I can kind of see that, but why didn’t you just release her into the wild?”

Keith sighed as he shook his head. “I tried. Several times. She just kept flying back to me.”

The alien bird gave a tweet and, as if to prove Keith’s point, flew straight down to perch on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. 

“See?” Keith said as he gestured in frustration while petting her head with his other hand. “So, what else could I do, but bring her into the castle? I couldn’t exactly abandon her.”

“What about the pony...thing there?” Hunk said as he pointed to the sleeping creature.

“That’s a tarsiss,” Keith said. “He was being sold by a farmer that said he was too small to work and if someone didn’t buy him, he was going to 'harvest' him.”

Hunk winced, but gave a nod. “And the...lorax thing?”

“A lorka,” Keith corrected as his eyes narrowed, “and I’m not sure about her story, but she was in bad shape.” His eyes hardened as they watched the lorka roll on her back to play with the bushark. 

“She was chained up and I found her last owner yelling at her for not being more aggressive in the ‘ring’,” Keith continued as his fingers gripped his jacket. “Doesn’t take Pidge to figure out that meaning.”

Hunk’s eyes hardened too as the lorka wagged her tail. “Kind of hard to picture her as a fighter considering how friendly she seems.”

“I know,” Keith said. “I couldn’t just leave her, she was practically begging me to save her. So, I bought her from her owner who was more than happy to get rid of her.”

“And the castle got another refugee, I’m getting the overall picture,” Hunk said, thoughtfully as he rubbed his eyes. “So, no one else knows about this?”

Keith shook his head. “Just the space mice.”

Hunk blinked in surprise. “The space mice?”

As if on cue, the space mice appeared from underneath one of the blankets, quickly crawling up on the tarssis’s back. The animal responded with a snort as he flicked his ear, not seeming to mind the mice playing with a now softly glowing mane.

“Be honest, Hunk, have you ever been able to keep a secret from them?” Keith asked dryly.

“Point. Very excellent and kind of worrying point,” Hunk said as he ran a hand through his hair. The space mice were tiny masters at finding out everyone’s secrets. Truth be told, they would probably make awesome spies if Allura felt like becoming a spymaster. Unless she already was. Were his snacks truly safe? Putting those suspicions aside, Hunk shook his head. “I’m honestly kind of stunned you managed to keep this secret for so long.”

“It’s a big castle, hardly anyone comes to this part of it,” Keith explained, “besides it’s not like I raise eyebrows if I suddenly wander off by myself to feed them.”

“That..is true,” Hunk admitted. Keith did always have the lone wolf vibe about him. He had been getting better at being more social or bonding with the team, but Keith still clearly liked to have his alone time.

Hunk could sympathize. There were times he needed some alone time to collect his thoughts, although he could usually get some privacy when he was cooking. He just assumed it was sword practice for Keith. It never occurred to him Keith that might have been doing something else...he really need to try to learn more about Keith.

Which led to another question in Hunk’s mind. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

Keith winced slightly as he trailed his fingers over the bird’s tail. “Because I figured Shiro, Allura and Coran would insist I get rid of them, and I get why. The Castle of Lions isn’t exactly meant to be a petting zoo...” 

He looked up to Hunk with pleading eyes that the larger boy honestly wasn't used to seeing in his friend. “But I..kind of like having them around.” Keith admitted softly. “It’s..calming if that makes any sense.”

That was the final piece of the puzzle for Hunk. Keith was a total softie when it came to animals. Stubborn, serious, weapon loving Keith had a weakness for furry and fluffy creatures. 

It was almost as adorable as Pidge practically falling in love with every other robot they found.

On top of that, when Hunk considered that Keith was an orphan and had zero family waiting for him back on Earth - unlike the rest of them - Hunk could understand why he would latch onto these furry guys.

Keith then shook his head as he sighed. “With that said, it’s getting harder and harder to hide them. I have to come here several times a day to feed and play with them.” The bird gave one last coo before flying back to her perch. “So...do you think you could help me?”

Hunk froze as he gradually tilted his head to the side. “Wait, are you asking me to keep this secret too? Dude, you know how bad I am at lying!”

“You’re not that bad,” Keith argued.

“Tell that to Lance, he’ll vouch for me - especially after the Valentine's Day incident!” Hunk continued. “My hands get all sweaty and I end up rambling- I’m just a nervous wreck.”

Keith gave a smirk. “So, like you most of the time?”

“Keith, I’m serious!” Hunk growled as he raised his hands in the air. “And plus this is a ton of animals for two people to handle alone. I’m fairly certain Shiro would get suspicious within a week.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed, but he gave a nod. “Yeah, I know.”

The lorka than approached with her tail wagging, cheerfully dropping the ball at his feet. Keith gave a small smile as he picked it up and patted her head. 

“But, it’s either try to keep things secret or come clean and tell Shiro,” Keith replied as he tossed the ball. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Hunk’s eyes softened. It was possible that Shiro could be on their side, but that didn’t guarantee Coran and Allura would be, and it was technically their castle in the first place. Theirs or at most the Arusians by virtue of squatters' rights, but still probably property of the Altaean princess. Even with that in mind, it tore his heart to pieces to imagine Keith giving up his animals when they clearly gave him some comfort...some comfort they could all use.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, we won’t tell Shiro - at least not yet - but we are going to need some more help with this to figure out how to keep them happy and hidden.”

Keith paused and turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”

Hunk took Keith’s hand as he dragged his friend out of the room. “We’ll tell Lance and Pidge about this. I’ll bet they’ll help out.”

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I could see Pidge, but what makes you think Lance would ever help me?”

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“We’re keeping them, all of them,” Lance declared happily as he rubbed the ears of the lorka. “These are our fluffies now!”

Hunk rubbed his eyes. “Lance,” he growled.

“We’re naming them and they’re going to love me more than Keith in a week,” Lance continued as he scratched the lorka’s head and got his cheek licked in return. “No, wait, give it like four days. Three? I bet I can win their love in three.”

Keith stared on in amazement. “I didn’t...realize you were such a big animal lover.”

“Ha! Are you kidding!” Lance said as he gathered up the bushark in his arms. “My family has a dog, two cats, a gerbil and a rabbit!” He waved a hand over the entourage of animal. “This? This is home to me, my friend!”

Lance giggled as the bushark licked at his ear. “Hey, that tickles! Oh, you’re rapidly rising to Castle Of Lions Critter Number One. You can sleep in my bed.”

“Lance, FOCUS,” Hunk hissed as he patted his shoulder. “You can play later. We need to figure out what to do.”

Lance scoffed. “What’s there to figure out? We do what Keith’s been doing and keep this a secret.”

Keith blinked. “Wait, really?”

“Duh, of course,” Lance said as he knelt to pat the alien pony. “It's gonna be awesome to have some pets again.” He shot a glare at Keith. “If anything, you’re evil for keeping this fluffy horde to yourself for so long.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Right, sorry. Next time I try to hide a group of animals from the princess who rules the castle we all live in, you’ll be first on my list to be my partner in crime.”

“Darn right I will be!” Lance argued.

Hunk sighed. “I was kind of hoping we could come up with a more solid plan than...continuing to keep it a secret? You guys are aware that we're, like, one mouse interrogation from having everything revealed?”

“It’s solid enough,” Lance said with a giggle as he drew closer to the bird. “Like Keith said, no one comes to this part of the castle and if we divide the feeding shifts up between us, Shiro and the others won’t suspect a thing.” 

Lance frowned as he grasped his chin. “We’re gonna need names for these guys, though.”

Hunk shook his head as he glanced towards Pidge, who had been oddly quiet since they all entered. “Pidge, what do you think?”

Pidge glanced up, frowning as she was forced to abandon her staring contest with the lorka. The dog like creature panted heavily as she sniffed at Pidge's outheld hand. After a moment, the lorka gave a playful bark before rolling on her back for a belly rub.

“Uh, Pidge?” Keith asked as he loomed over the two of them.

“Does this one have a name?” Pidge asked as she gave the creature the much-needed belly rub.

“Not yet,” Keith replied with a shrug.

“Then I’m calling him ‘Rover’,” Pidge said with a delighted grin.

“It’s a girl,” Keith corrected as he knelt next to her.

“Oh,” Pidge said and then snapped her fingers. “Then ‘Rova’ it is!”

“I get to pick the names of the other ones,” Lance cried as he pointed. “The pony is ‘Pinky’, the bird is Anita because she looks like my Aunt Anita and the little guy is named Lucky!”

“Why ‘Lucky’?” Keith asked.

“Because he’s lucky to have me around,” Lance declared, “and also for that whole containing all the universe's good luck in his adorable little paws, or whatever it was. Isn't that right, Lucky?” Lance nuzzled noses against the tiny bushark, making cooing noises in response to its tiny mews.

Hunk sighed as he shook his head. This wasn’t exactly the result he’d been hoping for, but things could have gone worse.

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Keith quickly learned that keeping the animals secret was far more manageable with the other paladins involved. The hardest part of the conspiracy had been deciding when each person's turn was to go to feed and care for the animals. They all had to be present for training and for meetings, which meant they had only the early morning, the short periods after training and after dinner at the end of the day. After a lot of arguing, they decided to make a schedule and go one at a time so that Allura and the others wouldn’t get suspicious.

Keith had to admit it had been a struggle to have to run back to the chamber by himself everyday, all while trying to avoid rousing suspicions. With Hunk, Lance and Pidge able to go in his stead, though, Keith was put at ease just a bit.

Pidge even went through the computer data and looked up each species to find out what exactly each animal should be eating. Keith had been feeding them space goo, mostly because he was afraid of drawing attention to himself in case Coran or Allura caught him researching animals.

The animals had never complained about the space goo, but the first dishes Hunk brought out - supposedly more typical of their diets - elicited growls of delight.

Keith did wish that Lance wouldn’t keep bringing Lucky into bed with him at night. He was certain the cargo pilot was going to get caught somehow, but somehow Lance always managed to sneak Lucky back into the secret room before anyone was the wiser.

It was all perfect. They had a plan, and nothing would go wrong as long as they followed the plan.

No plan could survive contact with the enemy, however, and in this case the enemy was the paladins' next market trip. Keith found the box in the alleyway, and absolutely knew without question that he should have just kept walking, but his ears couldn’t ignore the pitiful hungry cries squealing from within

Keith only meant to steal a glance, but once he saw the contents he knew there could be no turning back. Four fuzzy balls of green fur with tiny striped tails and little studded horns poking out of the heads. If he took away the strange fur colour and the horns, the creatures reminded Keith of cats.Judging by their hungry cries and the way they tumbled over each other, he had to assume they were babies.

Keith paused as he mulled it over in his head, then went over to the stall where Lance had been haggling with a merchant over the price of a scarf and dragged him to the alleyway.

Lance blinked as he stared into the box and looked back to Keith.

“You know,” Lance said dryly as he folded his arms. “I know you promised I could be your partner in crime for the next time you had to hide a bunch of animals from the Princess, but I kind of assumed you were joking.”

Keith’s forehead furrowed as they both kneeled over the box. “Be serious, Lance,” he muttered, “I don’t know what we should do.”

To Keith's eye, the little fluffballs had clearly been abandoned and there was no sign of anything to take care of them. Their matted fur suggested they were far overdue for a proper bath, and while he had no idea how big they were supposed to be, something about them shouted 'hungry' to him. They wouldn’t last much longer out here by themselves.

Lance scoffed. “What do you mean? We’ll add them to the horde.” He picked up the smallest of the bunch and laughed as it licked his nose. “Aw, you’re a cutie. I’m naming you...Tiny.”

“Will you stop calling it ‘a horde’,” Keith grumbled, “and..we can’t add them. We've got enough animals as is, and Allura's only a block away looking at 'sparkly things' with Hunk. There's no way we can bring them back.”

Lance shot Keith an unimpressed look and slapped his hand on his shoulder as he carefully held the squirming animal against his chest.

“Keith, dear Keith, it's not about 'can we' - we have to bring them back,” he said in a dramatic tone. “How could we possibly call ourselves the ‘Defenders of the Universe’ if we can’t even rescue a box of space kittens!”

“I doubt they’re called ‘space kittens’,” Keith remarked as he felt one of the animals nibble on his finger. Definitely hungry.

“I’m calling them space kittens,” Lance declared as he set Tiny back with her siblings and picked up the box. “We are keeping them, that’s all there is too it.”

Keith sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I knew I should have gotten Hunk instead.”

“You could have,” Lance said as he began to walk off with the box, “but you know you got me, your perfect partner in crime, because you secretly wanted them.”

Keith said nothing as he followed, blushing because deep down he knew Lance was right.

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“Fetch, girl!” Keith exclaimed as he tossed the ball in the air. Rova gave a bark as she raced and caught the ball.

Keith grinned proudly as Rova wagged her tail and eagerly brought the ball back to him. “Good girl,” Keith praised as he patted her head. “You’re becoming a master at this.”

Pidge looked up from where she was brushing Lucky’s fur while leaning against Pinky. “Looks like that extra training you’ve been giving her has been paying off.”

Keith gave a nod as he took the soggy ball and tossed it again. “She loves to run, I just kind of wish I could give her more room to do it in.”

“Can’t be help since we’re trying to keep this secret,” Hunk commented as he filled up Anita’s and the kittens’ food bowl. “I’m thinking seeing an alien dog run through the halls would be kind of obvious-”

A sharp chitter cut Hunk off as he felt tiny paws climb up his arm. He glanced and saw a small orange creature that seemed to be a cross between a squirrel and a chinchilla. The creature chittered at him as it swished its long bushy tail and began to clean its paws.

“Keith,” Hunk said slowly as he pointed to the little critter. “What is this?”

Keith glanced up, spied the animal and gave a sheepish smile. “Um..” he began as Rova brought the ball back, avoiding the question a moment while he threw it again. “It’s a clelax.”

“And where exactly did this 'clelax' come from?” Hunk asked as his eyes flickered with suspicion.

Keith coughed. “...A merchant was going to kill him to make a hat out of his fur, so I bought him.”

Pidge glanced at the clelax and wrinkled her nose. “A hat for who? The kind of hat that would make would barely cover half of my head.”

Hunk sighed deeply as he placed the clelax back on the floor. “Dude, we should just ban you from shopping trips for now on.” He pointed to the kittens. “You were already pushing it with the cats!”

“Space kittens, we can't forget Lance's 'official' name for them,” Pidge corrected and shrugged. “And come on, Hunk, he’s just a little guy.”

Hunk scowled, but forgot his anger as the clelax hopped on his shoulder again.

Pidge laughed. “Hey, looks like you got a new friend, Hunk.”

“Lucky me,” Hunk said as he placed the creature on the floor once again. “On a related note, are you guys certain it’s okay for all three of us to be in here?” He rubbed his neck. “What if Shiro notices we’re missing?”

“He won’t because he’s not here,” Keith said as Rova brought the ball back for him to throw yet again. “Shiro and Lance went to pick up supplies, remember?”

Pidge nodded. “And Allura and Coran are busy going over the maps to see what's changed since their last update, so we should be clear for awhile.”

Hunk sighed. “Yeah, okay, I guess.” Once again he felt the clelax climb up to his shoulder and before Hunk could respond he felt the tiny animal nuzzle his cheek.

“Hee, hee, hey, okay, cut it out,” Hunk snickered as he picked it up and held it above his head. The clelax tilted his head at him and Hunk couldn’t resist a smile. “You are cute...maybe I’ll call you ‘Dumpling’.”

Pidge’s eyes suddenly widened as she grinned. “Wait...hey, that could work!”

Keith and Hunk both lifted their eyebrows. “Um, yeah, it should be a good name,” Hunk replied with a shrug. “It’s not exactly rocket science here. I mean there are other names we could go with, like Mochi, or Muffin, or are you guys hungry? I think I'm kind of hungry.”

“No, no, no,” Pidge said as she scooped Lucky up in her arms. “If the others are busy, that means there’s no one in the training room.” She looked to Pidge and grinned. “And that place is way bigger and would give Rova enough room to run around in.”

Keith paused as he held Rova’s ball in his hands. “Are you suggesting we sneak Rova into the training room?”

“And possibly Lucky,” Pidge said as she held up the bushark. “They could both use a good run.”

“No no no no no, nooo way, bad idea,” Hunk said as Dumpling seemed to shake his head at the same time. “This is just asking for trouble! We’ll get caught forsure!”

“How?” Keith asked. “Shiro won’t be back for hours, and you know how long Allura and Coran can take when there' s new map involved.” He patted Rova’s head. “I say we give it a shot.”

Hunk sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Dumpling gave a small chiding chitter, as if he fully agreed.

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“Fetch, girl!” Pidge cried as she flung the disc into the air. Rova barked as she gave chase, leaped and caught it in midair. 

Keith gave a low whistle of approval as Lucky was merrily running around the room, inspecting every corner. “She’s getting real good at that.”

“Somehow, I doubt Allura would approve of letting the gladiator’s ten thousand year old shooting discs get chewed on by Rova,” Hunk said from his spot on the floor as he let Dumpling nibble crumbs from his hands.

“We blast at these things every day for shooting practice,” Pidge said as Rova brought the disc to her to throw again. “Some of us even hit. She won’t notice a few bite marks.”

Hunk sighed. “Fine, but don’t say I told you so.” 

The space mice then appeared as if from nowhere, climbing up Hunk's arm and looking to him hopefully as they pointed to Dumpling eating.

“Yeah, I've got something for you guys to snack on too,” Hunk said as he reached in his pocket for the bag of nuts he’d been saving. He dropped them into his hands and held out his other hand. “Eat up!”

The mice squeaked a ‘thank you’ before chowing down. Dumpling wrinkled her nose at the creatures and chittered at them. To Hunk’s amusement, the mice grinned and seemed to chitter back and whatever they said caused Dumpling to shake her tail happily.

“Heh, looks you guys are going to be buds,” Hunk said in amusement. “Just try not to leave crumbs in my pockets, okay? Or to spill our secrets to Allura? No adorable mouse whistleblowers?”

The small rodents gave small nods before returning to their snack.

Keith gave a small smile as he scooped Lucky up. “By the way, guys,” he said as he rubbed his neck. “Thanks again..for..um..you know, helping with all of this.”

Hunk and Pidge exchanged grins before looking back at Keith. “Hey, we’re all stuck in space together, we kind of have to help each other out,” Hunk replied.

“Besides, this is fun for us too,” Pidge said as Rova wagged her tail. “I forgot how fun it is to just play with your pet.”

Keith gave a shy smile. “Well..still, I-”

The doors to the training room opened to reveal Lance entering the room. He was in his paladin armor, twirling his untransformed Bayard while yawning lazily. When he saw the group, he froze dead in his tracks, blinking once before his eyes suddenly widened. “What the...WHAT THE QUIZNACK ARE YOU GUYS DOING IN HERE?!”

“Playing with Rova and Lucky,” Keith said with a raised eyebrow “What does it look like?”

“No, I mean - what? Why are the animals in here?!” Lance hissed as he pointed to Rova. “Do you want us to get caught?!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Hunk replied and Dumpling seemed to chitter in agreement before diving back into the handful of crumbs.

“Relax, we have more than enough time to sneak them back…wait...” Pidge began, but trailed off as she adjusted her glasses and checked her watch. “You aren't supposed to be back for another hour.”

“Shiro and I found a place that had most of the supplies we needed,” Lance stammered. “So, uh, we kind of came back early and Shiro told me to meet him in the training room to try out a new training routine he’s planned.”

Keith, Pidge and Hunk all paled. Rova and Lucky, on the other hand, tilted their heads not understanding why the humans were fussing so much and why the play session had ground to a halt.

“Where’s Shiro now?” Keith asked as he stepped forward.

“Last I checked, looking for you three,” Lance hissed as he scurried over to Rova and began to lead her to the door. “So, you've got to get these guys out before he looks in here.”

Hunk peeked out the door and Dumpling dove inside his vest as he slammed it shut. “One slight problem with that,” he said as he sweated and held up his finger and thumb. “Shiro is coming down the hall, RIGHT NOW.”

The teens paled and looked to each other in horror as Rova pawed at Lance’s leg to play some more.

“No, no, no,” Lance cried. “Plan, tell me someone has a plan!”

“Keith!” Pidge shouted as she pointed at him. “Go out and distract Shiro!”

Keith’s jaw dropped. “Distract, how? And why me?!”

“I don’t know and because I say so,” Pidge demanded as she took Lucky from his arms and Lance shoved him towards the door. “Figure something out, just go!”

“Okay, okay,” Keith said as he stumbled into the hallway, barely regaining his balance. He didn’t have time to give his teammates a scowl as he spotted Shiro approaching him.

“Hey, Keith, you’re here?” Shiro said with a wave. “Is Lance in there too?”

“Yes-Uh, I mean no!” Keith stammered as he latched onto Shiro’s arm. “I..told him Hunk and Pidge were in the kitchen and he went to get them.”

He forcibly turned Shiro around so his back was facing the door, and latched on his arm to prevent him from turning. Unfortunately, it meant his back was facing the door too.

They had better be getting the animals out, Keith thought.

Shiro frowned as he slowly began to turn back. “In that case, let’s just wait for them in the training room,” he said. “I'm pretty sure I told Lance to stay-”

“You can’t go in there!” Keith cried as he tugged Shiro’s arm.

Shiro paused and gave Keith a puzzled look. “And why exactly is that?”

“Because..I need to ask you something,” Keith said as his brain scrambled for ideas.

“Oh, all right,” Shiro said in a more gentler tone. “I suppose the new drill can wait a few minutes. What is it?”

Keith chewed his bottom lip as he stared at his feet as if hoping the floor could give him a plausible lie.

“Did you..have fun shopping with Lance?” Keith said, mentally screaming at what just left his mouth.

Shiro closed his mouth and arched an eyebrow before folding his arms. “Yes, it went fine,” he said, “is that all?”

“Um..” Keith said as he rubbed his neck. “Did you buy a lot of stuff?”

_Lance or Pidge should have done this! Lance can talk about nothing! Pidge is sneaky! Why did they pick me?!_

Shiro snorted as he tapped his foot and sucked the air through his teeth. “Okay, what did you guys do?”

“Do?” Keith said, innocently. “What do you mean?”

Shiro gave a smirk as he poked his chest. “You have the classic ‘I’m trying to stall before Shiro finds out what I did’ face.” He escaped from Keith’s grip and stepped toward the door. “I've seen that too many times to be fooled, Keith - and I have this sneaking suspicion that whatever you did happened in the training room.”

“No, wait,” Keith exclaimed as he reached out, but was too late as Shiro opened the door and stepped inside.

Keith grimaced as he entered. “Shiro, don’t blame them,” he saw as he saw Shiro’s surprised face. “I can explain-”

“Why...are the mice dancing?” Shiro asked, tilting his head to one side.

Keith blinked, all possible words gone from his mouth as he turned his head. There was no sign of the animals, Lance, Hunk or Pidge. All that remained were the space mice who appeared to be performing a little kickline dance for their entertainment.

Shiro pointed at the kickline and looked to Keith for an explanation.

“Uh. This was...Lance’s idea,” Keith said as he tried to comprehend why the mice were dancing himself. “He...thought it be fun to teach them dance moves, so that...they have to have teamwork?”

Shiro tapped his chin thoughtfully causing Keith to sweat as he watched. A long minute passed - but then Keith's worries proved to be unfounded as Shiro gave a slight chuckle. “Yeah, that sounds like something Lance would do.”

Keith let out a sigh of relief. _They must have gotten the animals out when my back was turned._

“Honestly, though, I don’t really get why you were keeping this a secret,” Shiro continued.

“You..uh..would have to ask, Lance,” Keith stammered as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Lance would be able to say. I think he wanted to surprise you with it.”

“Ah, got it,” Shiro replied as he watched the mice stand in a tower, wave, and scamper off. “How about you go get suited up-”

“Yup! I’ll go do that,” Keith said as he backtracked out the door. “Just..need to find my clothes and weapons...be back soon.”

He left behind a baffled looking Shiro as he sprinted down the hall. _That was WAY too close,_ Keith thought. _This was a reckless idea. We should have listened to Hunk more._

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“This was a reckless idea, guys! This is exactly why you need to listen to me more,” Hunk hissed as he tried to keep Dumpling hidden inside his jacket.

Pidge sighed as she kept her grip on Rova, pulling to keep the lorka focused on moving and distracted from sniffing the floor. “Yes, Hunk, we know. You can lecture us about this later, alright?”

“Damn right I will,” he grumbled and shook his head. “You know, now that I think about it, we should have sent Lance to lie.”

“Or Pidge,” Lance replied as he patted Lucky, raising his arm to nuzzle the bushark. “Why didn’t you just volunteer yourself, Pidge?”

“Because I panicked, okay?!” she growled as they continued their stealthy advance. “Let’s just get these guys back in their hiding place before anything else happens.”

“Hey!” Keith shouted as he caught up to them. “I don’t know who told the mice to dance, but good thinking. It was just enough to distract Shiro for the moment.”

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance paused and they turned to look at them. “We didn’t tell them to do anything,” Pidge said slowly. “That was a good idea though. I guess this means we owe them one.”

“I'll make them a snack later or something,” Hunk said as they turned a corner. “We've just got to-”

The sound of whistling cut Hunk off and all four teens went still as they spied Coran approaching. The only salvation they had was his face seemed occupied with looking down at his tablet, but at any moment he could look up and notice the furry entourage.

“Quick, quick,” Lance hissed as he dragged Keith and Hunk in front of Rova, while Pidge hurriedly whispered at her to sit and stay still. “Don’t move a muscle and we might just get away with this.”

Keith said nothing as he took Lucky from Keith and tucked him inside his jacket. “Sorry, boy, just stay still.”

The bushark twitched her ears baffled as Keith held her close to his chest.

“Hello, Paladins,” Coran greeted, waving idly while keeping his nose pressed up against his tablet. “I believe Shiro is looking for you lot.”

“Uh, yeah, we heard,” Lance replied hastily as Pidge struggled to keep Rova still behind them. “We were just going to get suited up.”

Coran paused and arched an eyebrow. “Hang on a tick, I'm pretty sure your rooms are in the opposite direction. Did you lot get lost again”

“Uh..yes they,” Keith stammered, “but we thought...we'd take the scenic route?”

Lance shot him an incredulous glare, but Keith ignored it. At least it was something.

Coran raised his gaze, switching to looking at the ceiling while tugging at his moustache. “Hmm...yes, yes, I do suppose the architecture of this part of the castle is quite impressive,” he said and gave a laugh.

The paladins shared a shocked expression. For a fleeting moment, there was a common bond of gratitude that their plan was working.

“It took quite awhile for my grandfather to build,” Coran continued.

“Roof!” Rova barked, causing all the teens to freeze. 

_NOOO, Rova!_ Keith thought.

“Oh, well the roof wasn’t quite as hard,” Coran said as he shut his eyes in thought, twirling the end of his moustache. “Those styles he borrowed from Altean temples-”

“Uh, that sounds fascinating,” Pidge said as the group began to shuffle sideways in unison as they tried to keep Rova from sight, “but Shiro is waiting for us.”

“Ah, yes, of course, don’t let me keep you,” Coran said as he returned his gaze to his tablet.

“Roof!” Rova barked again as her tail wagged.

“And whoever is coughing, come see me later,” he said as he waved his hand. “I have the perfect medicine for that. Puts hair on your chest! Unless you use it as a topical ointment. My poor cousin only made that mistake the twice...”

The teens remained still until Coran, still rambling about Altean medicine, vanished around the corner. They all collapsed against each other as Lucky and Dumpling poked out their heads and Rova tilted her head in confusion at them.

“You are the worst at hiding,” Lance scolded as he shook a finger. “No treat for you!”

Rova panted and gave him a friendly lick on the cheek.

Lance’s face was unreadable. “Fine, half a treat but that’s it.”

“Can we maybe discuss this AFTER we get them back in their room?” Keith said as he tucked Lucky back into his jacket. 

“Agreed,” Hunk said as they marched forward, “and we are so done trying to sneak them into the training room. If Coran weren't obsessed with this place's ceilings and roofs, we'd have been goners.”

“Well, done for today at least,” Pidge said with a shrug. “Next time we'll have contingency plans made up in advance.”

Hunk twitched. “Next time?”

“Okay, we’re almost there,” Keith said as he pointed ahead.

“No, wait, guys back up,” Hunk repeated as Dumpling poked his head out, looking to the left and right before squirming out to freedom. “Pidge, you're getting that scheming expression again. What do you mean next time?!”

But to his chagrin his question remained unanswered and he sighed to himself. “You guys are going to give me grey hairs,” he grumbled.

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The next couple of weeks passed by more smoothly with no more ‘nerve wracking incidents’ as Hunk would put it. They continued their newly arranged schedule as normal, but as time went on Keith began to notice a few odd things happening. One early morning found a box of some kind of weird cookies, almost like alien dog treats in neon purple, left in the corner of the room.

Rova and the space kittens got excited as soon as they saw the presumed snacks, leaving Keith with no choice but to hand them over if he wished to save his hand. Still, it bothered him since he knew they hadn’t bought it, and Hunk had always told him in advance if he was trying some new with the animals’ food. So, where had it come from?

 _Maybe Lance or Pidge picked it up without telling me,_ he thought as he finished handing out the treats. _I should ask them later._

Keith then finished filling up the bowls, gave Pinky a quick brush through her mane and went to return to his room for the time being.

That was his plan, at least up to the part where he was reaching for the door into his room - which was when Lance slammed into him.

“Ow! Lance, use those eyes of yours and watch where you’re going,” Keith snapped. “What’s the big-”

“Keith, dude, I can’t find Lucky,” Lance stammered as he grabbed Keith by the shoulders. “I can’t find him!”

Keith blinked and forgot his annoyance. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought he was in your room? I didn’t see him with the others when I fed them.”

Lance had a habit of taking one of the smaller animals and sneaking it into his room to play with it one on one, or sometimes just to sleep with at night. Tiny or Lucky were Lance's favourite picks for nightly cuddles, although Keith had noticed Hunk had begun to do the same for Dumpling. He'd only tried sneaking Pinky into his room the once.

“He was with me,” Lance said in a panic, “but then Coran popped in to ask me a question!”

Keith’s eyes widened. “He saw Lucky?”

Lance shook his head. “No, I managed to tuck him under my bed before Coran came in, and usually he stays there when I'm wooing the princess, but he didn’t this time.” He rubbed at his face. “Coran left the door open and without even making the guy twitch his moustache, Lucky snuck by him and out the door. There was nothing I could do!”

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Keith demanded.

Lance growled as his eye twitched. “Oh, sure, Keith! ‘Hey, Coran, can you please catch the space ferret Keith and I had been hiding?’ That wouldn’t expose us at all.”

Keith sighed as he shook his head. “Right, no, you’re right.” He rapidly looked around. “Do you know where he went?”

“No,” Lance replied as he shook his head, “and you know how fast he is. He could be anywhere in the castle by now.”

Keith took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking. “Grab Pidge and Hunk, fill them in on what kind of trouble we're looking at.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe by some miracle we can find him before anyone discovers him.”

“Dude, I already got Pidge and Hunk on the case,” Lance said as he grabbed Keith by his wrist and dragged him. “I was running around looking for you! Come on, we've got to catch our cuddly space ferret!”

Keith didn’t argue as he let Lance drag him down the hall.

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“Okay, so we’ve searched the kitchen, the west wing, the observatory,” Pidge said as she scratched her head, “and all of our rooms?”

“Yeah, and still nothing!” Lance moaned. “Argh, honestly where could have the little fluffpot have gone!”

Keith rubbed his chin in thought. They had been searching for a few hours, still finding no trace of Lucky, but he knew they had barely covered a third of the castle. With its massive size, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Can’t you just check the castle monitors?” Keith asked as he looked to Hunk.

“Tried already, but Allura and Coran are running a systems check,” Hunk voiced. “I mean, I appreciate the faith and all, but no way could I sneak in there and check without getting asked a question or two. And you know what'll happen if they ask a question or two!”

“What about asking the mice?” Keith suggested.

“Not an option, the mice are with Allura,” Lance said as he rubbed his neck, “believe me, I thought of them too. Maybe for the best, I'm too worried to handle pantomime.”

“Given the inner volume of the castle and our current search rate - even putting aside the lions' hangars - we could spend days looking,” Pidge growled, “and that’s assuming Lucky doesn’t get discovered in the meantime.”

Lance sighed as he shut his eyes in thought. “There’s got to be an easier way to find him,” he said, snapping his fingers. “What if we tried thinking like Lucky?”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “How would thinking like a bushark help us?”

Lance rolled his eyes as he waved his arms around. “No, I mean thinking like Lucky! We know Lucky’s routine at this point. At this time of day, what would Lucky be doing?”

Keith went silent as he thought. “Taking a nap,” he said slowly, “and he likes to nap on soft things.”

“Right, but we already searched our rooms,” Hunk said, thoughtfully. “After them the softest place for him to take a nap nearby would be-”

“The couch in the recreation room,” Keith stated as he snapped his fingers. “Did anyone try checking there already?”

“Worth a try,” Pidge said as she took the lead. “Come on!”

The guys raced after her without a second thought. All four were ready to charge into the room, but Pidge halted suddenly at the door causing the other three to slam into her. Hunk moved fast to steady her by grabbing her arms, while Lance and Keith stabilized Hunk by each grabbing an arm and then the doorway itself.

“Geez, Pidge, a little warning next time,” Lance hissed.

Pidge shushed them. “Quiet, or you’ll wake him.”

The boys blinked puzzled until Keith glanced up, saw what Pidge meant and pointed in silent horror. Shiro was in the recreation room already, sound asleep on the couch. Judging by the tablet that had fallen on the floor, he had probably dozed off while reading a report.

It wasn’t exactly a rare sight, their leader had done this a dozen times before. Shiro had a difficult time sleeping at night thanks to his nightmares. The remaining paladins had agreed on an unwritten rule that if they discovered their leader like this, it was best to let Shiro rest.

“What should we do?” Hunk asked. “We can’t risk waking him up.”

“Well, maybe we should search another room first?” Pidge suggested. “Or just take a quick look around quietly?”

Keith was silent. His eyes widened as he stared into the room, pointing a little more urgently.

“Uh, Keith?” Lance whispered as he poked his back. “Could use your opinion here?”

Keith swallowed. “I found Lucky.”

Pidge, Lance and Hunk exchanged a baffled expression before glancing into the room. “You did?” Hunk asked. “Where?”

Keith raised a hand and pointed at the couch. “Right next to Shiro.”

All the teens froze, filled with trepidation as they looked ahead, finally seeing what Keith meant. In the nook of Shiro’s arm, comfortably nestled in, slept a small curled up bundle of blue fur. 

“You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.” Hunk whispered as he tugged at his hair. “After all the plans, and the panic, and the lies, and did I mention the plans? Of all the places to take a nap, he decided to do it there?”

“Yeah, well, he always does prefer to have a warm body to sleep against,” Lance grumbled.

Pidge adjusted her glasses as she thought. “What’s the big deal? We’ll just go in quietly, snag him, and be done with it.”

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. “You do remember how light a sleeper Shiro is, right? We’re going to have to be extremely quiet.”

“And you'll have to be extra certain to avoid waking him up when you grab Lucky. Or waking up Lucky - but jostling a sleeping Shiro with a touch? After what that guy's been through? I'm not sure any of us would survive a half-awake Shiro,” Hunk muttered.

“Nice way to add to the pressure,” Pidge grumbled.

“Hey, I’m being honest. And terrified.”

“Guys, shush,” Keith said as he stepped into the room. “We don't have the luxury of another option. I’m going in.”

The other three nodded as they snuck in behind him. Keith quietly tip-toed until he was near the couch, dropping to his hands and knees for the last few meters of his approach. Hunk, Lance and Pidge stayed at a safe distance, watching Shiro's face carefully for signs of waking as Keith moved closer.

Shiro seemed to be none the wiser and stayed asleep. “Psst, Lucky,” Keith whispered, “time to go.”

The bushark cracked open an eye and then yawned before shutting them again.

Keith sighed. “Fine, I’ll just pick you up,” he stated as he reached out for him.

Everyone held their breath as Keith gingerly reached in and wrapped his hands around Lucky’s body. He could feel the fur on his fingers.

“Yes, yes,” Lance whispered as Hunk shut his eyes and Pidge muttered under her breath.

Abruptly, Shiro shifted his head and let out a snore. Keith jumped, fearful he was waking up, but managed to catch his breath when he saw his leader was still asleep. His fears returned moments later, however, as at that moment Lucky’s tail started to swish just enough to tickle Shiro’s nose. 

Keith held his breath.

 _Don’t sneeze, don’t sneeze,_ he thought.

To his relief, Shiro gave a grunt and stayed asleep. However, much to Keith’s annoyance, his fearless and sleepless leader wrapped an arm around Lucky and snuggled him like he was a teddy bear. Worst of all, Lucky didn’t seem to mind as he snuggled against Shiro, burying his little body against the Black Paladin.

Keith yanked at his hair and looked up to the others with a pleading expression, but they all gave shrugs.

Keith’s eye twitched. _We fight the evils of the Galra empire everyday, re-awaken ancient weapons of legend, and yet not one of us can think of how to get a single space ferret away from a sleeping Shiro._

He took a deep breath and went to try to lift Shiro’s arm away.

Beep! Beep!

Keith staggered back, scrambling across the floor and around the couch to where the other three had already taken cover.

The beeping continued loud and strong as Shiro awoke, startled. “W-what?” he muttered and they heard movement. “Oh, the timer went off.”

“Timer?” Keith whispered to the others.

Pidge blinked and groaned softly. “I forgot, I suggested to Shiro that he could just set his the timber on his tablet since he was worried about napping too long.”

“Of course,” Keith grumbled, but went quiet as Lance and Hunk shushed the two of them.

“Okay, okay,” they heard Shiro mutter. “Time to get...what on earth are you?”

Keith inched around the lower edge of the couch and caught a glimpse of Shiro scooping Lucky up. The bushark twitched his ears and yawned in Shiro’s face.

“You were definitely not here when I sat down earlier,” Shiro said with a thoughtful look as he lowered Lucky back into his lap. 

Lucky stretched out like a cat and then pawed at Shiro’s hand.

“You want pats,” Shiro asked. “Oh, wait, no! You want a belly rub!”

Keith wasn’t able to see, but he heard Lucky giving happy chirps as Shiro laughed.

“Aw, you’re a little sweetie aren’t you?” Shiro cooed at it. “And your fur is so soft, you’re fluffier than any pillow! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

Keith placed a hand over his mouth to keep from snickering and looked to the others, but saw they were in the same position. They were currently listening to their leader indulge in baby talk, every one of them struggling to avoid laughing.

“I so wish I could record this,” Pidge muttered.

Shiro laughed. “Okay, okay, that’s enough cuddles,” he stated. “I should take you to Allura and figure out how you got into the castle-”

“NOOO!” Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge said in perfect unison as they sprang up from behind the couch.

Shiro jumped and Lucky mewed loudly as she leapt up on Shiro’s shoulders. Keith froze, unsure exactly what he should do now. He glanced to the others for help, but they all had the same dread in their eyes.

Shiro looked them over, eyes narrowed as he stood upright and crossed his arms over his chest. “Alright, would anyone mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“We can explain!” Keith cried.

“Shiro, you can’t tell Allura,” Lance interjected.

“Yeah, we can’t just give them all up,” Pidge replied. “They’re attached to us.”

“And they’re harmless,” Hunk stammered, “and we weren't hiding that many, okay maybe it was a few, but they were all in need-”

Shiro placed his fingers into his mouth and let loose a sharp whistle. “Let me rephrase that order. Could ONE of you explain to me what’s going on?”

“MEW!” Lucky said loudly as he poked Shiro’s cheek with his paw and twitched an ear. “Mew, mew.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow and patted Lucky. “Thanks, but I was hoping for an explanation in plain English.”

Keith gave a defeated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The jig was up, there was no point denying the truth any more. “Follow us, it’s easier if we just show you the others.”

“Others?” Shiro asked, drifting along half-asleep as Lucky got comfortable on his shoulders.

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Shiro looked over the animals in the chamber, blinking several times as his gaze just wandered back and forth. “How..long have all these guys been here?”

“It's been a few months now,” Pidge replied as she patted Pinky’s head. “At least that's how long it's been this extensive. I guess it's longer if you include the time Keith was taking care of them by himself, but he only had three animals back then.”

“I see,” Shiro said with a thoughtful frown. “Well, this does explain a few things.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I noticed you all kept whispering to each other a lot, but I will admit 'secret pet army' never crossed my mind.” He gave an amused smirk. “Although, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Keith always did have a soft spot for animals.”

Keith sighed as he rubbed his face. “Look, Shiro, I’ll take the full blame here, it was my idea-”

“Nope, we all agreed to this,” Lance said as he patted Keith’s shoulder. “We’re as just as much to blame here. Perfect partners in crime, remember?”

“Agreed,” Pidge said with a shaky grin. “To tell the truth, we all had a part in this conspiracy.”

“Actually, I'm on the record as saying we should tell Shiro several times,” Hunk commented as he raised his hand, “as in, a lot. After every close call. But...yeah, we’re all to blame.”

Keith held his breath as they all stared at Shiro’s neutral face. He had expected a lecture, or for Shiro to give his ‘I’m very disappointed’ face he often used when he and Lance had an argument get out of hand.

He did none of that. Instead he silently watched the animals, judging in silence. As if rehearsed, one of the space kittens trotted over and started to try chewing on Shiro’s boot. In response, in place of anger or exasperation, Shiro laughed as he knelt to scoop up the tiny creature.

“Sorry, but I don’t think you can eat my boot,” he said as he patted it. The kitten’s mews quietly faded into purrs as it seem to almost melt against Shiro’s metal arm.

The others stared at each other, all feeling very confused as Pidge cleared her throat. “Uh...Shiro,” she asked. “What's the judgment? Do you want us to confess to Allura?”

Shiro shut his eyes in thought. “I do, this is her castle after all. She needs to know about these additional guests. That said...we’ll wait until she’s in a good mood. She’s a bit stressed right now with the fallout from the diplomatic meeting we were at.”

Keith tilted his head as he scooted closer to the kittens and Shiro. “And you want her to be in a good mood so she’s not as angry about the secrets?”

Shiro shook his head. “No, if she’s in a good mood, we have a better chance of convincing her to let us keep the animals.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, jaw falling open a little bit. “ Let US keep the animals?”

The space kitten wiggled to get free and Shiro obeyed by setting it on the floor. “You guys should have just told us from the beginning,” he started, “but seeing the results, I can tell you have been taking good care of them. Not to mention, it’s clearly been good stress relief for you all.”

“It has?” Hunk asked.

“You guys have really improved on the drills and training sessions lately,” Shiro said with a smile. “I knew you guys were hiding something, but whatever it was it seemed to be what you needed and that’s why I didn’t ask about it. Come to think of it, this also explains why you've been doing so well at those infiltration exercises.”

“Huh,” Hunk said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Now that I think about it, I haven't been anywhere near as stressed about training lately. Except for those times that Lance and Keith decide to take Rova and Pinky for a run in the training hall, there's still plenty of stress to go around there.”

Keith stared up hopefully at Shiro. “So, basically, you’re all for us keeping them?”

“We will need Allura’s permission - like I said, it's her castle,” Shiro said sternly with a nod, “but yes, it’s fine with me.”

Keith’s shoulders relaxed as he ran a hand through his hair. “That is a huge weight off my mind.”

“I’ll bet,” Shiro said as he wrapped an arm around Keith. “So, how about you guys introduce me to the animals so I can start trying to keep their names straight and stop referring to them as 'Keith's houseguests numbers sixteen through twenty-five'?”

Keith exchanged a grin with the others before they all began to list off the names of their precious pets.

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As much as Keith wanted to tell Allura and Coran everything, waiting for Allura to be in a 'good mood' proved more difficult than any of them had hoped. During the meeting, they had learned the existence of a slave trade that was passing through their sector. Representatives from the various planets of the system had explained that Galran ships regularly stopped by to resupply en route, and as a rule they had always left it and its prisoners alone. 

Why would they attack it? How could they attack it? There was nothing they could do about the trade without bringing the Galra to their homeworlds.

However, Allura had a different opinion, having stopped just short of flipping the meeting table. She had informed the assembled diplomats that this business was something that Voltron could not ignore, and declaring their intent to take care of it. Once they learned about this, the Paladins had quickly formed plans to stop the shipments and rescue the slaves.

It was a stressful battle, since the paladins were trying to fight through the ship's defenses while holding back enough to avoid hurting the innocent slaves on board. Thankfully, after Lance and Pidge managed to sneak aboard and free the captives, the rest of the battle was extremely brief. With the prisoners in charge of the ship, they were able to flee before other Galra warships could arrive to assist.

They had gathered the slaves down in the medical wing for some medical evaluations and to help them recollect themselves from their sudden rescue. Hunk and Lance had taken it upon themselves to serve hot drinks to their passengers, while Shiro and Pidge checked them all over for injuries. Keith had tried to help, but after seeing his bedside manner Shiro had instructed him to stand guard at the door.

He felt a bit silly keeping guard, but they had learned the hard way with Rolo and Nyma that it wasn't always safe to trust everyone they met. For a moment, his musings were interrupted by what felt like something brushing by his foot, but looking around proved that no one had dared to go near him.

 _I swear I’m getting paranoid,_ Keith thought bitterly. He had a few minutes to take in the appearances of the other freed slaves before hearing footsteps from behind him, turning around to see Allura approaching.

“How is everyone?” she asked as she looked over the group.

Keith frowned. “Hard to tell, but I think that's mostly them being in shock that they’re free now. They haven’t told us much besides whether or not they're hurt, and frankly getting that much is like pulling teeth.”

Allura gave a nod. “Once we’re far enough away, I’ll have Coran come down and help us determine how we can get these innocent souls back to their homes.” She placed a hand over her chest. “Still, we’ve managed to help restore their freedom, and that alone does lift my heart.”

Keith paused, tapping his foot. _Lifts your heart, huh?_ He coughed into his fist and rubbed his neck. “Um...Princess. Later, when you’re not busy, there is something that we need to discuss with you.”

Allura dropped her smile and frowned in concern. Keith hastily raised his hands. “It’s nothing bad...um. Well, it's not bad for us, um..that is. Probably.” He gave a sigh. “I’ll let Shiro explain it later.”

Allura blinked in confusion, but said nothing more on the subject as Shiro and Pidge approached them.

“Besides a few minor injuries, everyone seems to be okay,” Shiro said with a small nod. 

Allura clasped her hands. “Excellent, once we’re at a safe distance, I’ll have Coran come down and we can begin plans to get everyone home.”

Pidge frowned as she adjusted her equipment bag on her shoulder. "I asked around, but no one seemed to know anything about prisoners from Earth. So that's another dead end. Other than that, it went well, other than having to break out my hacking tools at one point."

Keith frowned slightly. “What do you mean hack-”

“Dude, would you relax?!” Lance's voice suddenly cut in as he came forward with Hunk, hands gesticulating wildly. “I’m telling you it was just a miscount.”

Hunk shook his head as he held the empty tray in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. “Lance, if it’s one thing I make certain of it's to always have a backup snack. Number two is always having the right amount of refreshments when catering! I didn’t miscount.”

“Alright, settle down you two,” Shiro replied calmly. “What’s going on?”

Lance sighed. “Hunk is freaking out because we brought down one too many drinks.”

Hunk gave a huff. “We didn't bring down too many drinks, we have too few drinkers.” He counted heads in the room, pointing with increasing fervor. “I counted exactly twelve people to give drinks to - I distinctly remember going by twos and getting an even number - but now for some reason there are only eleven people here.”

Keith’s eyes widened and he hastily did a silent recount in his head. Uh oh.

“There do seem to only be eleven here,” Allura said with a frown. “I unfortunately was not able to greet them on arrival, so you five would know the count better than I. Hunk, is there any chance you could have simply been mistaken?”

“No, he didn’t,” Keith stated firmly, running a hand through his hair with a slight growl. “I counted when they arrived, and at that point there were definitely twelve. Now, it’s only eleven.”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the group. “You’re right, I remember setting up twelve beds. So why are only eleven in use?”

“Ha! Told you,” Hunk exclaimed, but his triumphant grin faded into a disturbed frown. “So, we're missing someone. Did they somehow get lost?”

“I guess you were right on the numbers,” Lance said as he scratched his head, “but who's missing? I didn’t exactly keep a track of their names.”

Pidge folded her arms, raising an eyebrow when one side table caught her eye. “Hang on a sec, I don’t see him.”

“See who?” Keith asked, feeling more on edge than he had before.

In response, Pidge walked over to the side table, retrieving a device and holding it up. “One of the prisoners had this weird collar around his neck,” she explained while tapping the metal. “It took a couple of minutes of hacking to figure out the code, but I managed to get it off him.”

“A collar?” Lance wrinkled his nose and he glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t see a collar on any of the other prisoners.”

“I know that’s why I thought it was odd,” Pidge remarked, handing the Galran tech over to the tallest paladin. “Shiro, does this look familiar to you?”

Shiro gave a tight frown as he took it and Keith looked over his shoulder. It was large, purple and looked big enough to catch a tiger.

“I remember some collars in the arena, but nothing this high tech,” Shiro said as rubbed his neck. “Although, my memory from that place isn’t...great.”

Keith gave Shiro a comforting pat on the shoulder, and Shiro answered with a shaky smile.

Hunk nervously tapped his fingers together. “Um...it could just be me here, but I can’t help but think that there might have been a potentially dangerous reason why that one guy was wearing a special collar?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Well, I don’t know, to prevent a superpower or something?” Hunk asked. “That’s what they do in comic books or at least the ones I read. I mean used to read. I guess I can get caught up on them again when we get back to Earth, but in the meantime we aren't exactly getting deliveries...”

“A...power,” Allura muttered and then abruptly her eyes widened. “Pidge, what exactly did this person look like?” 

Pidge shut her eyes. “Kind of like a large lizard, he didn’t have a tail though.” She counted on her fingers. “Purple skin, orange claws-”

“And black spikes on his head?” Allura asked, alarm growing in her eyes.

Pidge blinked. “Uh...yeah, actually now that you mention it. Something familiar?”

The other paladins exchanged concerned glances. “Allura,” Keith asked. “What’s wrong?”

The princess didn’t pause as she rushed to the slaves. “Excuse me!” she said in a clear voice. “I don’t wish to disturb you while you're recovering, but was there an Brakomi among you?”

The tallest of the freed prisoners tiled his head. “Uh, yes,you would be speaking of Maffus...Wait, where is he? Maffus?!”

Everyone gathered looked around and each of them seemed baffled. “I could have sworn he was sitting next to me,” a female-sounding alien with one eye muttered. "Where did he go?"

Allura paled as she tapped her communicator earrings. “Coran, I need you to search the castle for any signs of an intruder!”

“Already on it, Princess,” Coran shot back.

Shiro reached out and touched her shoulder. “Allura, what’s going on?”

She took a deep breath. “I believe Hunk was right.”

“I was?” Hunk asked as he pointed to himself.

“Brakomians have the ability to blend into their surroundings,” Allura continued. “It’s almost as if they can turn invisible. Nearly perfect stealth.”

“So, that collar I removed was probably preventing him from using this ability,” Pidge concluded.

“Exactly,” Allura said grimly. “He could be anywhere by now.”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s not panic,” Lance said. “Maybe he’s still in this room.”

Keith’s eyes hardened and he shook his head. “No, I’m certain I felt someone pass by me earlier.”

Lance’s eye twitched. “Well, why didn’t you say something?!”

“I literally didn’t see anyone,” Keith snapped. “I figured I was imagining things!”

“Alright, we’re not playing the blame game,” Shiro said as he stepped in between them. “None of us could have predicted this. Let’s just focus on finding this Maffus.”

“But what would he want?” Hunk asked.

“If I were to guess? I'd bet one of the lions, information to give the Galra, or maybe even commandeering the Castle itself to take to Zarkon,” Keith replied.

“But we just saved him!” Lance retorted. “That makes no sense! What kind of guy would turn in his rescuers?!”

“Maffus would.”

The group jumped and turned to the female alien who had spoken earlier. “My apologies,” she said as she rubbed her tentacles together. “But I overheard your discussion. I knew Maffus. I can swear to you he has no morals.”

“What do you mean?” Allura asked.

“He would often rat out the other slaves to the guards in order to improve his situation. I heard he even robbed his own family before he was taken.” 

“Fantastic,” Hunk moaned as he buried his face in his hands. “Just what we needed.”

The alien grimaced and shook her head. “I’m sorry, I should have kept a better eye on him, but...I had thought that not even he would betray the paladins of Voltron who had freed him.”

“It’s not your fault,” Shiro said gently. “Do you have any idea what he would be after?”

“My guess would be information, anything he can use as a bartering chip before fleeing,” the alien continued.

“We'd better go and search the whole castle,” Lance said. “He could be-”

“Princess, I’ve located an intruder in the lower quarters of the East wing,” Coran boomed.

Keith froze. _East Wing? That’s not far from where the animals are!_ He glanced to the other paladins and saw they had reached the same conclusion.

“Do you know exactly where in the East Wing?” Allura asked.

“No, he only appeared for a moment I had a brief visual, but he just disappeared again,” Coran replied. “Faster than a skittish klanmuirl - but I’ll keep my eyes open!”

“Wait, why would he appear?” Keith asked confused. “Wouldn’t it make sense to just stay hidden?”

“Their ability takes a lot of energy,” Allura explained. “After a while, Brakomi have to reappear in order to recharge themselves or they would collapse from exhaustion.”

Lance huffed. “Guess that’s one advantage in our corner.”

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do,” Shiro stated briskly. “Allura, stay here in case Maffus reappears. The rest of us will split up and search the East Wing.”

“Okay, but what are we supposed do if we’re able to find this guy - who, might I repeat, can literally blend into everything,” Hunk asked.

“Radio the others, and try your best to subdue him,” Shiro said as he raced ahead. “Move out, team!”

Keith gave a nod as he chased after Shiro, the others not far behind. They had to find this guy before he did some real damage.

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Once they reached the East Wing, the team split up to search the different rooms. Shiro had assigned Keith to search near the animals’ chamber.

“Hopefully he didn’t go there,” Shiro had said, “but you'd better go make certain they’re all safe.”

Keith suddenly felt very grateful Shiro was in on the secret now. If Shiro hadn’t found out by now, Keith imagined they would have had to waste a lot of time explaining it to him. 

Once they all agreed to stay in contact, Keith made a beeline down the hall, switching his bayard into its sword form as he did so. There was no telling when Maffus would appear and he had to stay on guard.

He scanned the hallway for any sign of suspicious activity, but saw nothing out of place as he approached the chamber.

 _Better make sure they’re okay,_ Keith thought as he unlocked the door. _Maybe I could get Rova to help sniff him-_

An arm wrapped around his neck from behind. Keith tried to kick off his attacker, but he could see nothing - not even whatever limb was holding him. He struggled in the grip, but it proved too little too late as his body was slammed against the wall, forcing him to drop his sword to the floor.

There was a shimmer, and suddenly Maffus reappeared smirking as he pinned Keith’s arm to his back, pressing his face against the wall.

“Well, well,” he hissed into Keith’s ear. “Look what I have here?”

Keith snarled as the door to the chamber opened on its own. 

“Keith!” Hunk’s voice yelled in his helmet. “You okay? What happened?”

“I found Maffus!” Keith cried. “He-”

Maffus shifted his hand to cover Keith's mouth, and knocked off Keith’s helmet with his long reptilian snout.

“We’re not calling your little friends,” Maffus hissed as he tightened his grip on Keith. “You know, I was hoping to snatch some information to sell back to the Galra.” He gave a chuckle. “But now I’m thinking they might appreciate getting one of the paladins instead.”

Keith narrowed his eyes and stomped on Maffus’s foot. The alien hissed in pain, but it wasn’t enough to make him let go of Keith.

Keith heard Maffus growl. “Just for that,” Maffus hissed as Keith felt his claws tighten around his jaw, “I’m going to make certain you’re quiet-”

A deep growl echoed throughout the hallway. Keith and Mafuss both froze and a paw stepped out from the shadows. Keith’s eyes widened as Rova appeared, baring her teeth as she prowled toward Maffus.

The Brakomian staggered backwards wildly, but kept his hold on Keith as if he was clutching him to use as a shield. “What under the desert sun is a lorka doing here?! There are only supposed to be a handful left in this galaxy!”

Keith tried to snark back, but found it difficult with Maffus still covering his mouth.

“S-stay back you beast,” Maffus threatened as he ducked behind Keith. “Or your - your owner will pay! Just stay back, and-”

A screech came out of the chamber, followed by the sound of wings flapping. Before Maffus could move, Rita came zooming out and swooped down upon the alien’s head.

It was hard to see through the mass of feathers, but Keith could hear Rita screeching and clawing at Maffus’s face. Within moments, the alien was forced to let go of Keith to defend his face.

“Ow! Ow! YOU STUPID BIRD! GET AWAY!” Maffus cried.

Keith spun and was ready to dive toward his sword, but Pinky beat him to it as she charged out of the room and head-butted Maffus in the stomach.

The alien yelped as he was flung back to slam against the far wall. Rita screeched as she flew in to swoop again. Maffus barely had time to moan before scrambling to his feet and raced down the hall, fading from sight as he ran. Rova howled as she instantly followed, leading Pinky with a strange certainty.

Keith barely had time to blink before more growls were heard from behind him. Lucky hissed loudly as he dashed by Keith’s feet and the boy could barely keep his balance as the other animals raced past him to join Rova's charge.

“I don’t believe it,” Keith said as he watched them run off.

“Keith! Keith!” Shiro’s voice boomed from his helmet. “Are you there?!”

Keith scooped up his helmet and placed it back on his head as he picked up the pace, rushing to follow. “Shiro, Maffus snuck up on me while I was checking the animals!”

“Are you okay?” Hunk asked in concern. 

“Yeah,” Keith huffed, “but the animals-”

“OH NO!” Lance cried. “THAT JERK BETTER HAVE NOT HURT THEM!”

“They’re all doing just fine right now!” Keith yelled as he turned. “They’re hunting down Maffus as I speak!”

“WHAT?!” all the paladins cried at once.

“What do you mean ‘hunting’?” Pidge asked.

Keith growled as the animals came into sight. “Just get down here and you’ll understand!”

“Already moving towards you,” Shiro said. “Just hold tight!”

“Copy that!” Keith said as he tried not to focus on the knot growing in his stomach. He hadn’t expected the animals to suddenly go after the guy. What if Maffus did hurt them? Or worse?

It was then that he could see the assembled horde, and Keith pushed himself to run even faster. The animals were all as still as stone, filling Keith with fear. As he got closer, however, Keith realized his fears were for naught.

Maffus was lying in the middle of the animals with his face in the ground as Pinky sat on him. Rita was perched on his head, almost preening as she pecked idly at his fins. Rova was crouched in front of his face, growling loudly enough to echo down the hall, and the guy looked terrified to even blink. All the other animals were surrounding the alien, from the largest to the smallest all ready to attack if need be.

Maffus fearfully looked to Keith. “Call them off! Please! I’m sorry! I'll do anything! JUST SAVE ME FROM THEM!”

Keith frowned as he skidded to a halt and stopped right in front of the group. “Not another word,” Keith threatened as he held his sword at Maffus’s neck, “or the animals will be the least of your worries.”

Maffus paled and covered his mouth with his hands as he rapidly nodded.

Keith sighed as he felt his body relax. _And here I was worrying about the animals?_

Lucky broke away from his vigil as he turned to Keith, proceeding to rub his head against his leg. Keith knelt to lift his pet up in his arms and scratched under his chin. “I’m so giving you guys treats later.”

“...Keith?”

Keith paused and turned around to see Allura staring, utterly baffled by the scene before her.

“Allura?” Keith asked stunned as he hugged Lucky to his chest. “I...I thought you were with the freed slaves.”

“Coran said I had to see this,” she said as she pointed. “...Where did all these animals come from?”

Keith chewed his bottom lip as he struggled to find the words. Fortunately, it proved unnecessary for the moment, as the other paladins appeared behind her. All eyes landed on Allura and the group shared uncomfortable glances with each other.

“Well,” Hunk said slowly, “guess the bushark is out of the bag.”

“Understatement of the year,” Keith muttered as Lucky nuzzled against him.

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After they had secured Maffus, Pidge repaired and replaced his collar so he wouldn’t be able to use his camouflage ability, and Hunk and Coran placed him in a cell with handcuffs.

The group debated on what to do with him, reaching no decision until the alien that had named him earlier suggested taking him back to his home planet.

“He is wanted there for stealing and fraud, among other crimes,” she suggested. “I’m certain if you bring him to his people, they will gladly ensure he answers for what he has done.”

Keith was relieved to hear that, but all throughout the discussion, Maffus hadn't been his main concern. His ability to worry was eaten up by how Allura would respond to the animals.

Once the decision about Maffus had been made, the others took Allura down to the chamber where they had been keeping all the animals. Keith noticed whole horde seemed rather smug with themselves, with Rova standing especially proudly. It was obvious to him that they took pride in having captured Maffus.

 _Not that I blame them,_ Keith thought. _They did help me._

Allura looked around in a daze as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, barely reacting to Shiro's explanation of the situation.

The princess didn’t utter a word until he finished, staring at the animals for a while longer before finally speaking. “You’ve...picked up all of these creatures and kept them in here?”

Keith rubbed his neck. “Yeah...I swear I never meant to get this many, but it kind of just...grew?”

“To be fair, we did enable you,” Pidge interjected, “especially Lance.”

“Guilty as charged,” Lance stated with a shrug, “but how could someone not want to keep them? Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure I was the best partner in crime here.”

Allura said nothing as Pinky and Lucky approached her, tilting their heads at her. Her eyes widened as Lucky mewed, and as if mesmerized, she reached out to pat the animals' heads.

“So...CUTE,” she stated as he eyes almost sparkled. Pinky and Lucky nuzzled against her hands, looking quite pleased at the attention.

“Uh...Princess?” Shiro asked.

Allura froze, and abruptly stood up as she cleared her throat. Pinky and Lucky both snorted in annoyance that the petting had stopped.

“Yes, well, while it was very noble of you to rescue these animals,” Allura said as she looked to Keith. “I really don’t believe the castle is an appropriate home for them.”

“Where else could they go?” Pidge interjected. “It’s not like there’s a space animal shelter.”

“And a lot of them would have died if I had just left them - or worse,” Keith argued.

“And, to be fair, Princess,” Coran replied as he twirled his mustache. “We do have more than enough space here. You certainly didn’t notice when the tarsiss was brought aboard, and he was the second animal.”

“Yeah, that’s right…,” Keith paused and slowly turned to the Altean with a suspicious glare. “Coran, how did you know Pinky was second?”

“Yes,” Shiro said with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t even know that, and I don’t recall any of us telling you what order the animals came in.”

Coran gave an all-knowing smile and before he said a word Rita flew down and perched on his shoulder. He chuckled as the bird nuzzled his cheek.

“Yes, yes, sorry, Dearie, I don’t have any treats for today,” he cooed at it.

Keith paled as the others stared in utter shock.

“You knew?!” Keith accused. “You knew about the animals the whole time!”

Coran huffed as Rita preened her wing. “Keith, I thoroughly monitor every corner of this castle. I found a flipping Brakomi on the run! Of course I knew!”

Keith blinked in shock. “And you just let me keep them?” Then his brain recalled another piece of evidence. “You’re the one that brought in the treats!”

“Yes, and yes,” Coran said as he patted Rita. “I saw no harm in it. It seemed to bring you great joy, so I saw nothing wrong with it.”

“Soooo,” Hunk stated slowly, “that time we were trying to hide Rova from you in the hallway...you were just playing dumb weren’t you? I knew the ceilings couldn't be that interesting!”

“Very much so,” Coran said as he raised an eyebrow. “Well, except for the ceilings part, they honestly are an architectural marvel. If you ask me, though, Keith needs to work on his lying skills.”

Keith gave a pout, but was cut off as Allura narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.

“Getting back to the matter at hand,” she stated firmly. “The animals can’t stay here. We need to find a better home for them.”

Keith’s heart sank and he looked to her in a pleading manner. “Allura-”

Shiro placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder as he gave a reassuring smile. “Let’s not be hasty, Princess,” he said as he stepped forward. “I understand your reasoning, but the animals have been good for everyone.”

“I must agree, Princess,” Coran said in a sincere tone. “Caring for the animals has proven to be a great bonding exercise for all the paladins.”

“It totally has!” Hunk cried as he held up Dumpling. “You have no idea how hard it was to keep a strict schedule to feed and clean these little guys without drawing attention.”

“Not to mention,” Shiro said gently as he scooped up Lucky. “After a hard mission, playing with a pet is a nice way to unwind and calm down.”

“And plus,” Lance said as he pointed. “The mice seem to like having these guys around too. They helped cover for us without even asking!”

The group turned as they spotted the space mice climbing up Pinky’s mane, giving the group a small wave as the tarsiss decided to give them a ride.

“I see,” Allura said slowly. “Those are valid points.”

Keith felt his heart fill with hope.

“But, it’s still not very proper,” Allura said, “we are a castle and the command center for Voltron. I-I’m just not certain if it’s a good idea.”

And Keith’s heart sank a bit lower than before.

Coran gave another all-knowing smirk as he loomed over the princess. “That's rather funny, Princess, as I certainly recall you making a very different argument over Lady Dahlia?”

Allura froze and her eyes widened as her face blushed. “Coran, that is not fair!”

“Who is Lady Dahlia?” Pidge asked.

“Oh, no one,” Coran said with a shrug, “Certainly not an injured ariak - that's a furry creature with long ears and tail, for you Earthlings - that Allura nursed back to health then practically begged King Alfor to let her keep it.” 

He turned to her. “And he allowed it, never mind the other little forest critters that had always seemed to mysteriously follow you home.”

Keith blinked as he slowly turned to Allura who was tapping her index fingers together as she blushed.

“So...you were just as bad as me?” Keith asked with a small smirk.

“A..little, yes,” Allura said with a pout. “But that was different! It was a different era! That doesn’t mean we should-”

“Allura,” Keith said seriously as he took Lucky from Shiro’s arms. “Tell you what, I will give up and agree to find these animals a different place to live...if you can do one thing.”

The others looked to Keith in shock, except Coran who began to chuckle as if he was reading Keith’s mind.

Allura frowned as she folded her arms. “All right. What challenge did you have in mind?”

Keith gave a smirk as he held up Lucky. “Tell him, to his face, that he has to leave.”

Allura went still and her face paled as if she had been told she had to walk through fire. “Keith, that’s not fair-”

“Don’t talk to Keith, talk to Lucky,” Shiro instructed as he folded his arms. “Go on, tell the adorable furry little face he can’t live here with the other cute animals.”

Allura gulped as she looked around and then turned to Lucky. Keith patted the bushark’s head and knew full well he was giving Allura the full big wide eyed treatment - the one he often used to get extra belly rubs.

“I...you have to…” Allura struggled, but then gave a deep sigh as her arms dropped to her side. “I concede. The animals can all stay.”

“YES!” Lance cheered. “Power of cuteness strikes again!”

Keith could only grin as Lucky nuzzled his cheek, trying not to laugh as Rova approached Allura for a pat.

08080808080808080808080808080808080808080

Once the freed slaves were safely on their way home, and Muffas was safely on his way to trial or prison, the animals were moved out of their hiding place. Coran had suggested a much larger chamber in the west wing that would be more suitable for them.

Keith had to agree that Coran was right. There was a ton more space, which gave the animals more space to run in, and they were able to spread out sleeping areas for each of the animals to sleep in. Not that those sleeping areas were always occupied; with the secret out, some of the animals took to wandering out of their rooms.

Lucky, for his part, kept his habit of sneaking out and finding a person to snuggle up against each night. Keith was rather amused that Shiro seemed to be Lucky’s new favorite nap buddy. They often found the little bushark curled up against Shiro’s side.

Lance pretended to be offended, but admitted he didn’t really care. 

“Besides, I got Tiny,” Lance said as he played with the space kitten. “I’ll live.”

Dumpling had a habit of hiding in Hunk’s vest or watching from his shoulder as he cooked. Rova was let out to wander the halls as she pleased. Allura and Coran seemed a bit concerned by this, but Pidge reassured them she had gotten the lorka housebroken, or 'castle-broken' as she occasionally joked. Keith often found her pawing at him for either a pat or to toss her a ball.

Rita had clearly gotten attached to Coran and it wasn’t rare to see the bird perched on his shoulder. As explanation, Coran claimed that Rita often enjoyed preening his mustache - to which Keith declared that was all he needed to know and nothing more. 

Pidge and Lance had gotten into a routine of letting out the space kittens to play with them in their rooms or in the lab with Pidge. Lance would often play with the kitten while Pidge worked at her computer. 

Keith had originally assumed Pidge would oppose the constant distraction, but apparently she liked hearing the kittens as a background noise. He could understand the logic in that, even though she could occasionally be heard grumbling about space cats and space keyboards.

Other than Lucky, Shiro didn’t bother to bring the animals out, but he usually joined Keith in the chamber often to help feed, clean and play with them. 

Keith was truly relieved he didn’t have to hide the animals anymore, but he was still slightly concerned about Allura. She always smiled when she spotted the animals, but she didn’t come to the chamber - at least never during the times Keith was around.

He was beginning to get concerned.

 _Did I make her angry by making such a selfish request?_ He thought as he passed out the feeding bowls. _The mice seemed happy by the whole thing, they’re in here just as much as I am. Still, what if-_

“Keith, do you need help?”

Keith paused and turned around to see Allura standing at the door with both of her hands tucked behind her back.

He blinked at her as he rose to his feet, patting Pinky. “Uh, no, I got them all fed,” he said, and then a thought struck him. “Wait, aren't you suppose to be at that diplomatic meeting with Coran?”

The last he had heard, Allura and Coran were trying to forge an alliance with a planet that had so far escaped the empire’s rule. There were tensions, as the planet was fearful of the empire approaching their doorstep soon.

“Yes, I was,” Allura said and Keith noticed she had her hands tucked behind her back. “They were quite ecstatic to join our alliance.”

“Oh, well, that’s good,” Keith said as he rubbed his neck and was uncertain of what else to say.

“Yes,” Allura said as she chewed her bottom lip. “In fact...they gave me a gift.”

Keith frowned. “A gift? What kind-”

A loud toot was heard and caused Keith to slightly jump, but Allura seemed unfazed as she gave a shaky smile.

Keith stared in confusion as he tilted his head at her. “Allura, what was that?”

Allura gave a nervous chuckle as she brought her hands to her front and tugged on what seemed to be a leash. A small rainbow-coloured wooly creature appeared at her side, flapping its large ears at Keith.

It was tall enough to reach Allura's hip, and as wide as it was tall. The long trunk and tusks made Keith to think of a small wooly mammoth - at least, if those animals had come in rainbow colours. The creature blinked at Keith and tooted again with its long trunk.

“Princess?” Keith asked in confusion.

“This is Tilly, a gramalian,” Allura explained as she fiddled with the leash. “She was a gift from the king, and he insisted I take him.”

“Ooh,” Keith said as he slowly got the picture.

“Of course, I should have refused, but it was a diplomatic gift and our new alliance could not risk such rudeness,” Allura said as she stroked Tilly’s ears. “But I thought, since we have so many animals anyway, then perhaps this creature wouldn’t-”

“Princess,” Keith said with a smile as he reached out and patted Tilly. “It’s okay. She can join the family.”

Tilly gave a happy toot as Allura gave a smile. “Thank you, Keith.”

“Thanks for allowing us to keep them here,” Keith said as he reached out to untie the leash. “So, how about we get Tilly some food and introduce her to the others.”

Allura gave a smile as she reached into her pocket. “I also bought some collars for them,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind, but they have trackers so that if we ever lose them we can bring them back home.”

 _Home,_ Keith thought. _Because they belong here too._

Keith gave a small nod and a smile. “That sounds good to me, Princess.”

Together, he and Allura went around matching the perfect collar to each animal, and every creature seemed thrilled with it. It was as if they all knew what it meant. They were staying, and Keith felt very grateful for his new found family for letting it happen. In a weird way, it meant he was home too.


End file.
